Mandatory Conscription

"That's the situation."

"Go back and make your preparations."

The dean of discipline, dressed in a black uniform, folded his hands and looked at the frail young boy before him, a trace of sympathy flashing through his eyes.

"I was... included in the conscription quota?"

Lin Yuan froze for a moment.

He had only recently transmigrated and had yet to adapt.

Yet he had already received this bolt from the blue.

In truth, for an ordinary student like Lin Yuan,

conscription was not necessarily a bad thing.

The government had always been generous with military spending.

Even enlisted soldiers received decent benefits.

But that was during peacetime.

Now, news had arrived that alien races had invaded the border star systems.

Many people speculated that the purpose of this conscription was to serve as reserves for the front lines.

In the year 2,600,000 of the Star Sea Calendar, the Universe Human Alliance had embarked on frenzied interstellar expansion, occupying one star system and galaxy after another, inevitably coming into contact with other racial civilizations.

Resources were limited. In order to compete for all kinds of cosmic resources, Human Civilization had taken the initiative in launching a series of conflicts and wars.

Those alien civilizations that had been driven away had all been watching Human Civilization from the shadows, waiting for the slightest opportunity to strike back.

"This is bad."

Lin Yuan's heart sank.

He knew very well that although Human Civilization, as a whole,

held an absolute advantage in wars against most alien civilizations,

the situation on local battlefields was far from smooth sailing.

The alien civilizations deep in the stars were savage and brutal,

and their individuals could be unimaginably powerful.

Tearing warships apart with their bare hands was no exaggeration.

When fighting these aliens, even with human soldiers fully armed,

the average casualty rate still reached twenty to thirty percent.

Besides that,

due to the need for wartime secrecy,

all soldiers participating in wars to exterminate alien races were forbidden from communicating with the outside world.

Local interstellar wars generally lasted a long time. It was perfectly normal for them to continue for centuries.

In other words, Lin Yuan had been selected for this round of conscription.

Even if he survived the war against the aliens, he would likely spend the rest of his life aboard cold spacecraft in outer space.

He would never again touch the land or oceans of a living planet.

Lin Yuan took a deep breath. "Director, can this be discussed? My parents will need me to support them in the future, and I still have a younger sister."

The dean of discipline tapped the desk and said solemnly, "Don't worry. If you actively respond to the government's conscription policy, your family will be properly settled."

"Your father's current position will be promoted by one level, and your mother will receive a respectable job in the district."

"Your younger sister's future tuition fees will all be waived, and after she turns eighteen, she will receive one opportunity to study at a Higher Academy."

"So you've even thought through what happens after I die?"

Lin Yuan pursed his lips, feeling an indescribable tangle of emotions.

To be fair, the conditions were good enough.

His father was currently stuck at a career bottleneck that most people could not overcome even after decades.

His mother was unemployed. If she could obtain a respectable job,

it would greatly improve the family's living conditions.

As for his sister's opportunity to study at a Higher Academy, that was something money could not buy.

If his sister could study at a Higher Academy, it would not be an exaggeration to say that her future would be limitless.

But.

But.

But.

Why did all of this have to be built on my sacrifice???

Lin Yuan had only transmigrated into this body a few days ago. Although he had fully inherited all of its memories,

he still felt an indescribable resistance when faced with this scene of 'sacrifice one person to make the whole family happy.'

"I still prefer life on a planet."

After remaining silent for a while, Lin Yuan could not help but speak.

Once he became a soldier, everything about him would fall under military management.

By then, it would be too late to refuse.

Though refusing now probably would not do much either.

"Student Lin Yuan, serving the government is an obligation we citizens should fulfill."

"Besides, this conscription is a Mandatory Conscription policy. Since it has fallen on you, there's no use refusing no matter how unwilling you are."

"Besides, young people should go out and make something of themselves. What's wrong with that? Being able to see all kinds of alien races that only appear in textbooks is something ordinary citizens could never achieve in their entire lives."

"If you can earn merit, you might even be transferred back to serve in a military district someday."

"This is a rare opportunity that usually never comes around."

The dean of discipline patiently comforted Lin Yuan for a few moments.

"But..."

Lin Yuan opened his mouth, wanting to say more.

But the dean of discipline waved a hand. "Enough. Go out first. Spend more time with your family over the next few days."

Under the dean's gaze, Lin Yuan rose and left.

Outside the door,

more than ten students around Lin Yuan's age were waiting in line.

After Lin Yuan came out, another student went in.

"Classmate, the director asked us to come here. What is this about?"

A dark-skinned student hurriedly grabbed Lin Yuan's arm and asked in a low voice.

"You'll know once you go in."

Lin Yuan sighed, ignored him, and walked away.

Before meeting the director, Lin Yuan had never expected that he would be included in the Mandatory Conscription quota.

Last week,

Lin Yuan had learned of the Mandatory Conscription news from a report by an authoritative local media outlet.

But Lin Yuan had not paid much attention to it at the time.

The scope of Mandatory Conscription covered all of Azure Wave Star, as well as dozens of nearby living planets.

Azure Wave Star had a permanent population of fifty billion,

yet the conscription quota allocated to Azure Wave Star was only several hundred thousand.

From a probability standpoint, the chance of a citizen being selected for Mandatory Conscription was roughly one in a hundred thousand.

Such a tiny possibility had never crossed Lin Yuan's mind.

But reality was full of surprises. The original owner had bought all kinds of lottery tickets for over a decade without ever winning once, yet he had been selected for a Mandatory Conscription quota with odds of only one in a hundred thousand. Upon returning home,

Lin Yuan found that both his parents were there. Even his young sister was unusually sitting in her seat.

She stared at the cake before her, drooling, yet did not dare reach out her hand.

"Yuan."

His mother, Lu Qiong, stood up. Her gaze toward Lin Yuan was filled with hesitation.

His father, Lin Shoucheng, sat there with furrowed brows, seemingly lost in thought.

Clearly, news that Lin Yuan had been included in the Mandatory Conscription quota had already reached home.

His parents had even learned of it earlier than Lin Yuan himself.

"There's still room to maneuver regarding the conscription."

"Tomorrow, I'll go find your distant uncle and have him help smooth things over."

His father, Lin Shoucheng, spoke.

The distant uncle he mentioned was a remote relative.

He worked at a research institute and had quite a few connections.

"There's no need."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

The Mandatory Conscription policy had been issued by the government.

Not to mention some employee at an obscure research institute.

Even the Archon of Azure Wave Star would have to pay an enormous price to change it.

Of course,

if Lin Yuan truly had ties to the Archon,

his name would never have appeared on the conscription list in the first place.

Before the conscription list was released, spending money and calling in favors

might have kept someone off the list.

But once the list was finalized, getting off it would be difficult.

"I'm a little tired."

"I'll go back to my room first."

Lin Yuan ate a little at random before getting up and returning to his room.

"How can I get out of the Mandatory Conscription quota?"

Lin Yuan lay flat on the soft bed, still holding on to his last shred of hope.

"Connect to the Goddess of Wisdom."

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yuan sat up.

The Goddess of Wisdom was one of the three great Goddesses of the Universe Human Alliance.

She was the core intelligent processing system of the entire civilization, overseeing the civilization's overall operations, handling every matter concerning all citizens of Human Civilization, strictly monitoring any abnormal behavior, and ensuring that all actions were carried out according to the Human Civilization Charter.

Over the more than two million years of the Star Sea Calendar, the three Goddesses had made immense contributions to Human Civilization's ability to sweep aside countless alien races.

Without the absolutely selfless methods of the three Goddesses, Cosmic Human Civilization would likely have long since perished to internal strife. How could it possibly have developed into such a vast, glorious, and brilliant civilization?

People had emotions. They could develop cognitive biases, be influenced by their feelings, and make wrong decisions, but the three Goddesses would not.

The stance of the three Goddesses was always that of all Human Civilization. They possessed no selfish motives and could remain forever fair.

The Goddess of Wisdom Lin Yuan connected to was naturally not the true primary consciousness of the Goddess of Wisdom.

It was merely an insignificant subsidiary consciousness she had split off, a benefit possessed by every citizen.

"First Level Citizen of the universe, Lin Yuan, please state your question."

An electronically synthesized voice sounded beside Lin Yuan's ear through the omnipresent network.

"I want to know the conditions for exemption from Mandatory Conscription."

Lin Yuan organized his words and asked.

"Mandatory Conscription originates from Article 156 of the charter. It is used to maintain the stability of Human Civilization and support external warfare. All human citizens are obligated to cooperate with conscription."

"The following three situations qualify for exemption from Mandatory Conscription."

"First: Evolvers. Humans walking the path of evolution are the hope of Human Civilization and possess the privilege of refusing Mandatory Conscription."

Evolvers... Lin Yuan's expression was complicated.

Over the long history of the Star Sea Calendar, Evolvers were no secret.

There were many paths to becoming an Evolver,

mainly divided into Unique Type Evolvers and common-type Evolvers.

Unique Type Evolvers were easy to understand: Evolvers who could not be popularized or replicated.

For example, certain evolution families that inherited their abilities through bloodlines belonged to this category.

There were also individuals who had gone through special, irreproducible processes, undergone mutations, and gained extraordinary powers.

They too were Unique Type Evolvers.

As for common-type Evolvers, they were humans who had embarked on a stable Evolutionary Path.

For example, Gene Warriors, who consumed expensive Gene Potions and stepped onto the path of evolution.

And Mental Masters, killing machines forged through cruel training and torment combined with specific cultivation methods, and so on.

Any stable Evolutionary Path

was extraordinarily precious.

They were valuable knowledge explored by countless predecessors at the cost of their lives.

"I should just be an ordinary person."

Lin Yuan sighed.

Being an ordinary person meant he had no connection to Unique Type Evolvers.

If Lin Yuan wanted to become an Evolver, he could only consider a stable Evolutionary Path.

But that was not something that could be accomplished overnight. A few Evolutionary Paths, such as that of Gene Warriors, could be completed quickly.

But that was based on expensive Gene Potions and other treasures. Within the Universe Human Alliance, Gene Potions were strictly controlled products.

Ordinary people simply had no way or qualifications to purchase them.

Even if a Gene Potion were placed right in front of Lin Yuan, he still could not afford it.

Just as Lin Yuan was pondering this—

A cold, indifferent synthesized voice rang out again.

"Second: Fourth Level Citizens of the universe receive one exemption privilege every ten years, which can offset Mandatory Conscription."

"Fourth Level Citizen."

The corner of Lin Yuan's mouth twitched slightly.

In Star Sea Era Year One, Human Civilization established its citizen ranking system.

Citizens were divided into twelve levels. The higher one's level, the greater the privileges one possessed.

The way to raise one's citizen level was through contributions to Human Civilization.

This was supervised and enforced by the three Goddesses, ensuring absolute fairness.

As a result, raising one's citizen level was exceptionally difficult.

Nearly ninety-nine percent of citizens remained First Level Citizens from birth until death.

Of course, this was accompanied by the many benefits enjoyed by high-level citizens.

Starting from Fourth Level Citizen, one gained an exemption privilege once every ten years.

It could pardon the crimes of citizens below the level of major felons.

Mandatory Conscription was included among them.

But with the Lin Family's current connections, where could they find a Fourth Level Citizen?

One had to know that Azure Wave Star currently had a permanent population of fifty billion.

There was only one citizen whose rank had reached Level Four.

That was Azure Wave Star's Archon.

A major figure who held the lives and deaths of hundreds of billions of citizens in his hands.

"What about the third option?"

Lin Yuan could not help asking.

"Third: Make contributions to Human Civilization and rise to Second Level Citizen, and Mandatory Conscription may be exempted."

The synthesized voice came again.

Yet it only caused Lin Yuan to fall silent once more.

Even if a Second Level Citizen was not an evolver, their status was no lower than that of most evolvers.

Second Level Citizens naturally possessed the same privileges as evolvers.

However, this was even harder than becoming an evolver.

At least Lin Yuan knew how to become an evolver, even if he could not accomplish it himself.

But as for the contributions needed to rise to Second Level Citizen—contributions that could earn the recognition of the Goddess of Wisdom—he had absolutely no clue.

"What specific actions can count as contributions?"

Lin Yuan asked tentatively.

"Providing a brand-new Evolutionary Path will earn an enormous contribution reward."

The synthesized voice sounded.

Vaguely, Lin Yuan realized that the Goddess of Wisdom placed tremendous importance on brand-new Evolutionary Paths.

Otherwise, she would not offer such enormous contributions as a reward.

"I should think of some other way."

Lin Yuan rubbed his brow. Of the three options provided by the Goddess of Wisdom—

Not a single one was something Lin Yuan could accomplish right now.

Especially the last one: provide a brand-new Evolutionary Path?

If Lin Yuan had that, he would have become a Second Level Citizen long ago. Why would he still be waiting to be forcibly conscripted?

Before he knew it, it was already midnight.

Lin Yuan gradually drifted into sleep.

Suddenly.

Just then.

A strange pulling force drew Lin Yuan's mind toward the depths of his consciousness.

Deep within his mind, a grand and towering door of light appeared.

The inside of the door was filled with a pale blue curtain of light.

Like rippling water, it continuously undulated.

"What is this?"

Lin Yuan was abruptly startled.

He immediately jolted awake from his dream.

"It wasn't a dream."

After waking, Lin Yuan could still sense the door of light deep within his mind.

At the same time.

Illusory words flashed beneath Lin Yuan's field of vision.

Name: Lin Yuan

Identity: Wielder of the Door of Myriad Worlds

Realm: None

Talent: None

Divine Ability: None